Yousafzai and Snowden have made it onto PRIO Director Kristian Berg Harpviken's shortlist of likely Peace Prize honorees. The other three people he puts on that list:

-- Pope Francis. Harpviken points out that in the year since he became pope, Francis "has brought attention to the fate of the poor, and the need for a new approach to development and economic redistribution. ... Pope Francis has also instilled new hope for reform of the Catholic Church. He has himself adopted a more modest appearance than his predecessors, uses social media extensively, and signals accessibility for the common man and woman."

-- Novaya Gazeta, a newspaper that PRIO notes was "set up in 1993 at the initiative of Mikhail Gorbachev, who devoted part of his Nobel Peace Prize money for the purpose. The newspaper has since experienced the killings of several of its journalists. Its website has been exposed to numerous cyberattacks."

-- Denis Mukwege, a doctor who for more than a decade "has given medical treatment to survivors of sexual violence. In 1999 he founded the Panzi Hospital in Bakuvu, DR Congo."